


A Little Bit of Ice and Rube Goldberg

by Annide



Category: Limitless (TV)
Genre: Cold Weather, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-03 20:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17291207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: When freezing rain takes over the city, everyone goes home while it's still safe outside. Brian insists on finishing what he's working on, forcing both he and Ike to stay alone in the office to weather the storm.





	A Little Bit of Ice and Rube Goldberg

**Author's Note:**

> Situation inspired by Québec's Great Ice Storm of 1998

                "You should get out of here soon too, Brian, it's bad out there."

                "I just want to finish this while I'm still on NZT, half an hour, no more."

                Rebecca sighed. Everyone had already left the building. Every other agent had gone home hours ago. She only stayed there because Brian was in the middle of building some kind of model for she-didn't-know-what that had to do with their latest case. But enough was enough, she didn't want to get stuck in the office.

                "I don't want to end up stuck here. They're closing all the roads."

                "I'm almost done."

                "They turned off the elevators in case the power goes out. I'll have to take the stairs down all of those floors because of you. I waited long enough."

                "It's alright, Rebecca, go home. I'll stay with him."

                She had no idea why Ike would offer that. She thought he hated Brian, wasn't he mad he was forcing him to keep working through this freezing rain storm? Mike had left the first chance he got.

                "Are you sure? I really don't know how long he'll be."

                "I said it won't be long."

                "I'm sure. I'll keep Finch safe."

                "Alright, goodbye then. Try not to stay too long."

                Half an hour passed and Brian was still not done. Ike left the file room to look out the window. He had never seen the streets of New York City so empty. The freezing rain had started a few days ago, but it had become worse than anything they'd seen before. Everything was frozen. Trees were covered in so much ice they fell under the weight. There had been talks of power outages all around. People had swarmed stores for food and generators. Everything that could be closed was closed. The city had opened schools and recreation centers to take people in, if it wasn't safe for them to stay home.

                "Ike," Brian arrived behind him, carrying a radio he'd found who-knows-where a few hours earlier to stop Rebecca worrying they might miss important information if the power went out. "They're saying we should all stay inside, that we should find someplace safe and not go outside again."

                "That's what we've been telling you all day."

                "Well, I didn't think it was that bad. Everyone always makes a big deal of things here." The NZT had worn off, Ike could hear the difference in the intonation of his voice.

                "Because you never take anything seriously."

                There was a loud sound and the lights went out. In the office and in every building they could see outside. Ike took a flashlight out of his pocket and pointed it a little under Brian's face.

                "It's decided, we're staying here."

                "Don't I get a say in this?"

                "My job is to keep you safe, if I say that means spending the night in the office, then we do."

                "Alright then. There are so many things I've always wanted to do here, but never could because of everyone around. Alone in an empty office, we are going to have so much fun."

                "I was afraid you'd say that. We should find food and supplies first."

                "First? So we set up a nice blanket fort in a corner with everything we need to stay safe, then you'll do all the fun things I have in mind?"

                "Nothing too dangerous, Finch."

                Ike had let the blanket fort idea get by him without saying a word. He liked the thought of cuddling close to Brian in a small warm space. In front of Mike, he always made a point to complain about this job and pretend he hated that annoying and selfish Brian guy, but really, he was falling for him.

                They collected flashlights and candles and blankets and first aid kits. They got cushions, mattresses and water bottles from the gym. They found a surprising amount of food hidden pretty much everywhere. They made themselves a nice little corner. It looked quite romantic, if Brian thought so himself. But he was afraid it made Ike feel uncomfortable, so he tried to diffuse the tension.

                "We should each grab a mattress and slide down the stairs."

                "Too dangerous. But I'll allow racing chairs in the hallway."

                The biggest smile spread on Brian's face. It made Ike's heart melt. They spent maybe half an hour doing that, laughing their asses off. As the winner, Brian got to pick their next activity, but he went for something quieter. They used post-it notes to made art for the walls and wrote kind notes for everyone that they hid in various places around the desks. They were very excited for the next few weeks of people finding them. Brian said the author of the last note to be found would get a prize. He could ask the other to do something and the loser wouldn't be allowed to refuse.

                "I'm a trained agent, Brian, you have no chance."

                "I have siblings I spent my whole childhood hiding things from. I was a stoner in high school who had to hide my pot from my parents. I've got more practice."

                "We'll see."

                "We will. By the way, since when do you call me Brian?"

                "We're stuck alone in the office for who knows how long playing games like children, I think we reached first name basis."

                "I think so too."

                They sat quietly against the wall in their pillow fort watching the stars ahead, made visible by the dark city at their feet.  They were so close to each other, they were almost touching, but neither said anything or moved. They simply appreciated the proximity. They fell asleep like this. When Brian's head fell on Ike's shoulder, he was afraid to move, he didn't want to wake him up. He did his best to put out all of the candles without disturbing Brian's sleep. Then he let himself succumb to slumber in his turn, his arm wrapped around Brian.

                The sun woke them up early in the morning. They were cuddled quite closely together under a pile of blankets Ike barely remembered putting over them. The city looked absolutely beautiful. The light reflected on the ice that covered everything. You could say a lot of things about how much trouble the ice storm was causing, but there was no denying its beauty.

                They ate power bars and fruits. Ike showered despite there being no hot water, and Brian elected to stay under the blankets. Ike ran to him after he was done to wrap himself into his warmth. They had found clean sweat pants and hoodies in the gym's changing room that they changed into.

                "You know what I've always wanted to do?" Ike held Brian close, trying to warm himself up from that cold shower, which seemed more and more like a terrible idea. Except it gave him an excuse to cuddle close to Brian who seemed perfectly happy to use his body to keep him warm. "Make a Rube Goldberg Machine."

                "A what?"

                "I have been thinking about it a lot since I've met you. Can you imagine the possibilities with your brain on NZT?"

                "Okay, first, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what this Rube... something machine is. Second, my NZT wore off hours ago."

                "Yesterday morning, they gave us two of your pills in case we'd get stuck somewhere because of the freezing rain and there was some kind of an emergency."

                "Doesn't sound to me like there's any kind of emergency, I mean, we're doing just fine here."

                "I know, and I'm not supposed to give it to you, but I really want to do this. I got shot because of those pills. Don't I deserve to have some fun with it just once?"

                "I was never gonna argue anyway, but you made a great argument. Explain the thing to me."

                "A Rube Goldberg Machine. You know, a very complicated machine to execute a very simple task with a chain reaction. It can include falling dominoes and there are marbles moving around."

                "Yeah, we'll definitely need NZT for this."

                Ike gave Brian the pill and they spent all day building a giant Rube Goldberg Machine that spread across the entire bullpen. When the sun began to set, they couldn't see as well and were too afraid to move to finish it. As Brian's NZT was wearing off anyway, they decided to take a break until morning. They only had few more things to add and, after all, it would be a lot more satisfying to watch in the light.

                Without electricity, there was no heating either and it had gotten quite cold. They were wearing beanies and scarves now and when they weren't moving, they stayed very close together, cuddling for warmth.

                "I slept in your arms last night, so it's my turn to be the big spoon."

                "My job is literally to protect you, I'm the big spoon."

                "We did your thing today, so we should do what I want now. And I want to be the big spoon."

                Ike wanted to keep arguing, but Brian made one of his irresistibly adorable faces and there was just no refusing anything to him now. It was perfect that way though. Ike had never felt safer and more comfortable than he did with Brian's arms wrapped around him. He couldn't tell what took over him, but before he could stop himself, he did that little spoon thing, where you press your butt into the big spoon, so he'll get a boner. Of course, he usually was the big spoon getting a boner because the guy he was with did that, but now that the situation was reversed, he realized it was fun. He hoped he hadn't read the signals wrong and that Brian actually was into him like he thought, otherwise this would be a very bad idea.

                They woke up the next morning and put the finishing touches on their Rube Goldberg Machine without a word said about what went on during the night. Because this whole thing had been Ike's idea, Brian let him do the honours and set it in motion. It worked. Every chain reaction happened like it was supposed to. It was a masterpiece. Ike kept saying the NZT had made this possible, but Brian assured him it was all him. Ike's idea, Ike's plan, Ike's success. Ike's irresistible, happy, proud smile. They watched until the Machine had run its course entirely, then Brian grabbed Ike's face, pulled him close and locked their lips together.

                "You kissed me." Ike sounded surprised.

                "You gave me a boner."

                "I like you."

                Brian chortled. "I know." He kissed Ike again. "I do too."

                Ike smiled. "You think we'd be good together?"

                "Look at all of this. The Rube Goldberg Machine, our fort with all the supplies to stay warm and safe here. We make a great team. We'll rock together."

                "If we survive the freezing rain."

                "With you around, I'm not the littlest bit worried."

                They spent the day kissing and cuddling, buried under all the blankets they had. Then the electricity came back, and with the roads reopened, they finally left the cold office for Brian's cozy apartment.


End file.
